Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger (baptized 24 November 1583 - 17 March 1640) was an English poet and dramatist. His finely plotted plays are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes. Life Overview Massinger was probably born at Salisbury. His father appears to have been a retainer of the Earl of Pembroke, by whom and by Queen Elizabeth he was employed in a confidential capacity. Massinger was at Oxford, but quitt the university suddenly without graduating. He is next found in London writing for the stage, frequently in collaboration with others. Few details of his life have come down, but it seems that he was on the whole unfortunate. He was found dead in bed on March 16, 1640, and was buried in St. Saviour's, Southwark, by some of the actors. The burial register has the entry, "buried Philip Massinger, a stranger." Of the many plays which he wrote or had a hand in, 15 believed to be entirely his are extant; another 8 were burned by a servant in the 18th century. He, however, collaborated so much with others – Fletcher, Dekker, etc. – that much fine work probably his can only be identified by internal evidence. Among his plays may be mentioned The Unnatural Combat (printed 1639) and The Virgin Martyr (1622) (partly by Dekker), which contains perhaps his finest writing. His best plays on the whole, however, are The City Madam (1632), and A New Way to Pay Old Debts (printed 1633), which latter kept the stage until the 19th century. He is believed to have joined with Fletcher and Shakespeare in Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen. His verse is fluent and sweet, and in his grave and reflective passages he rises to a rich and stately music. He often repeats himself, has little humor, and is not seldom coarse. He has, however, much skill in the construction and working out of a story.John William Cousin, "Massinger Philip," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 263. Wikisource, Web, Feb. 11, 2018. Youth Massinger, son of Arthur Massinger or Messanger, was baptized at St Thomas's, Salisbury, on 24 November 1583. He apparently belonged to an old Salisbury family, for the name occurs in the city records as early as 1415. His father, who had also been educated at St Alban Hall, was a member of parliament, and was attached to the household of Henry Herbert, 2nd earl of Pembroke, who recommended him in 1587 for the office of examiner in the court of the marches.britannica 1911, 868. Massinger is described in his matriculation entry at St. Alban Hall, Oxford (1602), as the son of a gentleman. It has been suggested that the 3rd earl of Pembroke, (the William Herbert whose name has been connected with Shakespeare's sonnets) who succeeded to the title in 1601, supported the poet at Oxford, but the significant omission of any reference to him in any of Massinger's prefaces points to the contrary. He left Oxford without a degree in 1606. His father had died in 1603, and he was perhaps dependent on his own exertions. The lack of a degree and the want of patronage from Lord Pembroke may both be explained on the supposition that he had become a Roman Catholic. Career On leaving the university Massinger went to London to make his living as a dramatist, but his name cannot be definitely affixed to any play until 15 years later, when The Virgin Martyr (entered at Stationers' Hall, Dec. 7, 1621) appeared as the work of Massinger and Dekker. During these years he worked in collaboration with other dramatists. A joint letter, from Nathaniel Field, Robert Daborne and Philip Massinger, to Philip Henslowe, begs for an immediate loan of 5 pounds to release them from their “unfortunate extremities,” the money to be taken from the balance due for the “play of Mr Fletcher's and ours.” A 2nd document shows that Massinger and Daborne owed Henslowe £3 on the 4th of Tuly 1615. The earlier note probably dates from 1613, and from this time Massinger apparently worked regularly with John Fletcher, although in editions of Beaumont and Fletcher's works his co-operation is usually unrecognized. Sir Aston Cokayne, Massinge1's constant friend and patron, refers in explicit terms to this collaboration in a sonnet addressed to Humphrey Moseley on the publication of his folio edition of Beaumont and Fletcher (Small Poems of Divers Sorts, 1658), and in an epitaph on the 2 poets he says: :Plays they did write together, were great friends, :And now one grave includes them in their ends." After Philip Henslowe's death in 1616 Massinger and Fletcher began to write for the King's Men. Between 1623 and 1626 Massinger produced unaided for the Lady Elizabeth's Men then playing at the Cockpit 3 pieces, The Parliament of Love, The Bondman, and The Renegade. With the exception of these plays and The Great Duke of Florence, produced in 1627 by the Queen's servants, Massinger continued to write regularly for the King's Men until his death. The tone of the dedications of his later plays affords evidence of his continued poverty. Thus in the preface to The Maid of Honour (1632) he wrote, addressing Sir Francis Foljambe and Sir Thomas Bland: “I had not to this time subsisted, but that I was supported by your frequent courtesies and favours.” The prologue to The Guardian (licensed 1633) refers to 2 unsuccessful plays and 2 years of silence, when the author feared he had lost the popular favor. S.R. Gardiner, in an essay on “The Political Element in Massinger ” (Contemp. Review, Aug. 1876), maintained that Massinger's dramas are before all else political, that the events of his day were as openly criticized in his plays as current politics are in the cartoons of Punch. It is probable that this break in his production was owing to his free handling of public matters. In 1631 Sir Henry Herbert, the master of the revels, refused to license an unnamed play by Massinger because of “dangerous matter as the deposing of Sebastian, King of Portugal,” calculated presumably to endanger good relations between England and Spain. There is little doubt that this was the same piece as Believe as You List, in which time and place are changed, Antiochus being substituted for Sebastian, and Rome for Spain. In the prologue Massinger ironically apologizes for his ignorance of history, and professes that his accuracy is at fault if his picture comes near "a late and sad example.” The obvious “late and sad example ” of a wandering prince could be no other than Charles I's brother-in-law, the elector palatine. An allusion to the same subject may be traced in The Maid of Honour. In another play by Massinger, not extant, Charles I is reported to have himself struck out a passage put into the mouth of Don Pedro, king of Spain, as "too insolent.” The poet seems to have adhered closely to the politics of his patron, Philip Herbert, earl of Montgomery, and afterwards 4th earl of Pembroke, who had leanings to democracy and was a personal enemy of the duke of Buckingham. In The Bondman, dealing with the history of Timoleon, Buckingham is satirized as Gisco. The servility towards. the Crown displayed in Beaumont and Fletcher's plays reflected the temper of the court of James I. The attitude of Massinger's heroes and heroines towards kings is very different. Camiola's remarks on the limitations of the royal prerogative (Maid of Honour, act iv. sc. v.) could hardly be acceptable at court.Britannica 1911, 869. The supposition that Massinger was a Roman Catholic rests upon 3 of his plays, The Virgin Martyr (licensed 1620), The Renegade (licensed 1624) and The Maid of Honour (c. 1621). The religious sentiment is certainly such as would obviously best appeal to an audience sympathetic to Roman Catholic doctrine. The Virgin Martyr, dealing with the martyrdom of Dorothea in the time of Diocletian, is not entirely his work, and the story is early Christian, not Roman Catholic. In The Renegade, however, the action is dominated by the beneficent influence of a Jesuit priest, Francisco, and the doctrine of baptismal regeneration is enforced. In The Maid of Honour a complicated situation is solved by the decision of the heroine, Camiola, to take the veil. For this she is held up “to all posterity a fair example for noble maids to imitate.” Massinger died suddenly at his house near the Globe theatre, and was buried in the churchyard of St Saviour's, Southwark, on the 18th of March 164O. In the entry in the parish register he is described as a “ stranger, ” which, however, implies nothing more than that he belonged to another parish. Writing It seems doubtful whether Massinger was ever a popular playwright, for the best qualities of his plays would appeal rather to politicians and moralists than to the ordinary playgoer. His plays have generally an obvious moral intention. He sets himself to work out a series of ethical problems through a succession of ingenious and effective plots. In the art of construction he has, indeed, few rivals. But the virtue of his heroes and heroines is rather morbid than natural, and often singularly divorced from common-sense – in general types rather than living persons, and their actions do not appear to spring inevitably from their characters, but rather from the exigencies of the plot. The heroes are too good, and the villains too wicked to be quite convincing. Moreover their respective goodness and villainy are too often represented as extraneous to themselves. This defect of characterization shows that English drama had already begun to decline. He contributed, however, at least 1 great and popular character to the English stage. Sir Giles Overreach, in A New Way to Pay Old Debts, is a sort of commercial Richard III, a compound of the lion and the fox, and the part provides many opportunities for a great actor. He made another considerable contribution to the comedy of manners in The City Madam. Among all Massinger's heroines Camiola in The Maid of Honour''is distinguished by genuine purity and heroism. In Massinger's own judgment ''The Roman Actor was "the most perfect birth of his Minerva.” It is a study of the tyrant Domitian, and of the results of despotic rule on the despot himself and his court. Other examples of his grave and restrained art are The Duke of Milan, The Bondman, and The Great Duke of Florence. Massinger was a student and follower of Shakespeare. The form of his verse, especially in the number of run-on lines, approximates in some respects to Shakespeare's later manner. He is rhetorical and picturesque, but rarely rises to extraordinary felicity. His verse is never mean, but it sometimes comes perilously near to prose, and in dealing with passionate situations it lacks fire and directness. The plays attributed to Massinger alone are: The Duke of Milan: A tragedy (c. 1618, pr. 1623 and 1638); The Unnatural Combat: A tragedy (c. 1619, pr. 1639); The Bondman: An antient storie (licensed 1623, pr. 1624); The Renegade: A tragaecomedie (lic. 1624, pr. 1630); The Parliament of Love (lic. 1624; ascribed, no doubt erroneously, in the Stationers' Register, 1660, to W. Rowley; first printed by Gifford from an imperfect MS. in 1805); A New Way to Pay Old Debts: A comoedie (c. 1625, pr. 1632); The Roman Actor: A tragaedie (lic. 1626, pr. 1622); The Maid of Honour (dating perhaps from 1621, pr. 1632); The Picture: A tragecomedie (lic. 1629, pr. 1630); The Great Duke of Florence: A comicall historie (lic. 1627, pr. 1635); The Emperor of the East: A tragaecomaedie (lic. and pr. 1631), founded on the story of Theodosius the Younger; Believe as You List (rejected by the censor in January, but licensed in May, 1631; printed 1848-1849 for the Percy Society); The City Madam: A comedie (lic. 1632, pr. 1658), which Mr Fleay (Biog. Chron. of the Eng. Drama, i. 226), however, considers to be a reworking of an older play, probably by Jonson; The Guardian (lic. 1633, pr. 1655); and The Bashful Lover (lic. 1636, pr. 1655). A Very Woman; or, The prince of Tarent, licensed in 1634 as the work of Massinger alone, is generally referred to his collaboration with Fletcher. The "exquisite temperance and justice" of this piece are, according to Swinburne, foreign to Fletcher's genius, and afford a striking example of Massinger's artistic skill and moderation. 12 plays of Massinger are said to be lost, but the titles of some of these may be duplicates of those of existing plays. 5 of these lost plays were MSS. used by John Warburton's cook for pie covers. It may be here noted that R. Boyle has constructed an ingenious case for the joint authorship by Fletcher and Massinger of the 2 "Shakespearian" plays, Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen (see the New Shakspere Society's Transactions, 1884 and 1882). Boyle sees the touch of Massinger in the first 2 acts of the Second Maiden's Tragedy (Lansdowne MS., lic. 1611), a play with which the names of Fletcher and Tourneur are also associated by different critics. The Fatall Dowry: A Tragedy (c. 1619, pr. 1632), which was adapted without acknowledgment by Nicholas Rowe in his Fair Penitent, was written in conjunction with Nathaniel Field,; and The Virgin Martir: A tragedie (lic. 1620, pr. 1621), with Thomas Dekker. Massinger's independent works were collected by Coxeter (4 volumes, 1759, revised edition with introduction by Thomas Davies, 1779), by ]. Monck Mason (4 volume, 1779), by William Gifford (4 volumes, 1805, 1813), by Hartley Coleridge (1840), by Lt.-Col. Cunningham (1867), and selections by Arthur Symons in the Mermaid Series (1887-1889). Gifford's remains the standard edition, and formed the basis of Cunningham's text. It contains "An Essay on htlhe Dramatic Writings of Massinger" by Dr. John Ferriar. Recognition Massinger is buried in the same tomb as John Fletcher, in the chancel of what is now Southwark Cathedral near London Bridge on the south bank of the Thames. There the names of Fletcher and Massinger appear on adjacent plaques laid in the floor between the choir stalls. Publications Poetry *''Poems'' (edited by Donald S. Lawless). Muncie, IN: Ball State University, 1968. Plays *''The Virgin Martir: A tragedie. London: Bernard Alsop, for Thomas Ionesm 1622. *The Duke of Millaine: A tragedie. London: Bernard Alsop, for Edward Blackmore, 1623. *''Henry VIII (with William Shakespeare & John Fletcher). 1623.Philip Massinger (1583-1640), English Poetry, 1579-1830, Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, Aug. 15, 2016. *''The Bond-man: An antient storie''. London: Edw. Allde, for I. Harison & E. Blackmore, 1624; London: Iohn Raworth, for Edward Blackmore, 1638. *''The Roman Actor: A tragedy''. London: Bernard Alsop & Thomas Fawcet, for Robert Allot, 1629. *''The Picture: A tragecomedie''. London: I.N., for Thomas Walkley, 1630. *''The Renegado: A tragae comedie''. London: A.M., for John Waterson, 1630. *''The Maid of Honour''. London: I.B., for Robert Allot, 1632. *''The Fatal Dowry. London: Iohn Norton, for Francis Constable, 1632. *''The Emperour of the East: A tragi-comedie. London: Thomas Harper, for John Waterson, 1632. *''A New Way to Pay Old Debts: A comedy, in five acts. London: Elizabeth Purslowe, for Henry Seyle, 1633; London : Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, 1807. *''The Two Noble Kinsmen (with Shakespeare & Fletcher). 1634. *''The Unnaturall Combat: A tragedie''. London E.G., for John Waterson, 1639. *''The Bashful Lover: A tragi-comedy''. London: Humphrey Moseley, 1655. *''The Guardian: A comical history''. London: Humphrey Moseley, 1655. *''The City Madam''. London: Andrew Pennycuike, 1658. *''The Dramatick Works'' (edited by John Monck Mason). (4 volumes), London: T. Davies, 1761. Volume I, https://archive.org/details/dramatickworksof02massiala Volume II] *''The Plays'' (edited by William Gifford). (4 volumes), London: Nicol, Rivington, 1813; New York: AMS Press, 1966. *''Beauties of Massinger''. London: John Porter, 1817. *''The Dramatic Works of Massinger and Ford'' (edited by Hartley Coleridge). London: E. Moxon, 1840. *''Believe as you List: A tragedy''. London: Richards, for the Percy Society, 1849. *''Philip Massinger'' (edited by Arthur Symons). London: Vizetelly, 1887; London: Unwin / New York: Scribner, 1887. *''Selected Plays'' (edited by Colin Gibson). Cambridge, UK, & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978. Collected editions *''The Plays and Poems'' (edited by Philip Edwards & Colin Gibson). (5 volumes), Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1976. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Philip Massinger, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer LIbrary Center Inc. Web, Aug. 15, 2016. Plays performed The following scheme is based on the work of Cyrus Hoy, Ian Fletcher, and Terence P. Logan. (See References.) Solo Plays *''The Maid of Honour, tragicomedy (c. 1621; printed 1632) *The Duke of Milan, tragedy (c. 1621–3; printed 1623, 1638) *The Unnatural Combat, tragedy (c. 1621–6; printed 1639) *The Bondman, tragicomedy (licensed 3 December 1623; printed 1624) *The Renegado, tragicomedy (licensed 17 April 1624; printed 1630) *The Parliament of Love, comedy (licensed 3 November 1624; MS) *A New Way to Pay Old Debts,'' comedy (c. 1625; printed 1632) *''The Roman Actor, tragedy (licensed 11 October 1626; printed 1629) *The Great Duke of Florence, tragicomedy (licensed 5 July 1627; printed 1636) *The Picture, tragicomedy (licensed 8 June 1629; printed 1630) *The Emperor of the East, tragicomedy (licensed 11 March 1631; printed 1632) *Believe as You List, tragedy (rejected by the censor in January, but licensed 6 May 1631; MS) *The City Madam, comedy (licensed 25 May 1632; printed 1658) *The Guardian, comedy (licensed 31 October 1633; printed 1655) *The Bashful Lover, tragicomedy (licensed 9 May 1636; printed 1655) Collaborations '''With John Fletcher:' *''Sir John van Olden Barnavelt, tragedy (August 1619; MS) *The Little French Lawyer, comedy (c. 1619–23; printed 1647) *A Very Woman, tragicomedy (c. 1619–22; licensed 6 June 1634; printed 1655) *The Custom of the Country, comedy (c. 1619–23; printed 1647) *The Double Marriage, tragedy (c. 1619–23; Printed 1647) *The False One, history (c. 1619–23; printed 1647) *The Prophetess, tragicomedy (licensed 14 May 1622; printed 1647) *The Sea Voyage, comedy (licensed 22 June 1622; printed 1647) *The Spanish Curate, comedy (licensed 24 October 1622; printed 1647) *The Lovers' Progress'' or The Wandering Lovers, tragicomedy (licensed 6 December 1623; revised 1634; printed 1647) *''The Elder Brother, comedy (c. 1625; printed 1637). '''With John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont:' *''Thierry and Theodoret, tragedy (c. 1607?; printed 1621) *The Coxcomb, comedy (1608–10; printed 1647) *Beggars' Bush, comedy (c. 1612–15?; revised 1622?; printed 1647) *Love's Cure, comedy (c. 1612–15?; revised 1625?; printed 1647). '''With John Fletcher and Nathan Field:' *''The Honest Man's Fortune, tragicomedy (1613; printed 1647) *The Queen of Corinth, tragicomedy (c. 1616–18; printed 1647) *The Knight of Malta, tragicomedy (c. 1619; printed 1647). '''With Nathan Field:' *''The Fatal Dowry, tragedy (c. 1619, printed 1632); adapted by Nicholas Rowe: ''The Fair Penitent With John Fletcher, John Ford, and William Rowley (?), or John Webster (?): *''The Fair Maid of the Inn, comedy (licensed 22 January 1626; printed 1647). '''With John Fletcher, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman (?):' *''Rollo Duke of Normandy, or The Bloody Brother'', tragedy (c. 1616–24; printed 1639). With Thomas Dekker: *''The Virgin Martyr, tragedy (licensed 6 October 1620; printed 1622). '''With Thomas Middleton and William Rowley:' *''The Old Law, comedy (c. 1615–18; printed 1656). Some of these "collaborations" are in fact more complex: revisions by Massinger of older plays by Fletcher and others, etc. (It is not necessary to suppose that Massinger, Fletcher, Ford, and Rowley or Webster, sat down in a room together to write a play.) See also * List of English-language playwrights References * . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 12, 2018. * Francis Cunningham (Ed.): ''William Gifford: The plays of Philip Massinger; From the text of William Gifford. With the addition of the tragedy "Believe as you list" ed. by Francis Cunningham. London: Chatto and Windus, ca. 1887. * Alfred Jean-François Mézières: Contemporains et successeurs de Shakespeare. 5. rev. a. corr. ed. Paris: Hachette, 1913. * James Phelan: On Philip Massinger. (in Vol. 2 of Anglia: Zeitschrift für englische Philologie, Halle 1879 (Leipzig: Univ., Diss., 1878). * Irmgard Röhricht: Das Idealbild der Frau bei Philip Massinger. Munich: Piloty & Loehle, 1920. * Cyrus Hoy: The Shares of Fletcher and His Collaborators in the Beaumont and Fletcher Canon. Studies in Bibliography, 1956-62. * Samuel A. and Dorothy R. Tannenbaum: Philip Massinger. Michel de Montaigne. Anthony Mundy. Thomas Nashe. George Peele. Thomas Randolph. (Elizabethan bibliographies; Vol. 6). Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1967. * Ian Fletcher: Beaumont and Fletcher. London: Longmans, Green, 1967. * Naomi Conn Liebler: Philip Massinger's The Roman actor and the idea of the play within a play. Stony Brook, State Univ. of New York, Diss., 1976. * Philip Edwards and Colin Gibson (Hrsg.): The plays and poems of Philip Massinger. London: Oxford Univ. Pr., 1976. * Terence P.Logan: Philip Massinger. In: Terence P. Logan and Denzell S. Smith, eds., The Later Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1978. * Colin Gibson (Ed.): The selected plays of Philip Massinger: The Duke of Milan; The Roman actor; A new way to pay old debts; The city madam. (Plays by Renaissance and Restoration dramatists). Cambridge u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1978. ISBN 0-521-21728-8;ISBN 0-521-29243-3. * Martin Garrett: Philip Massinger's attitude to spectacle. (Jacobean drama studies; 72). 1984. * Douglas Howard (Ed.): Philip Massinger: a crit. reassessment. Cambridge u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1985. ISBN 0-521-25895-2. * Doris Adler: Philip Massinger. (Twayne's English authors series; 435) Boston: Twayne, 1987. ISBN 0-8057-6934-X. * Martin Garrett (Ed.): Massinger: the critical heritage. London a.o.: Routledge, 1991. ISBN 0-415-03340-3. * Lawless, Donald S. [http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/BSMngrph&CISOPTR=1&CISOBOX=1&REC=16 Philip Massinger and his Associates], Ball State University monograph, 1967 * Lawless, Donald S. [http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/BSMngrph&CISOPTR=4&CISOBOX=1&REC=17 The Poems of Philip Massinger], Ball State University monograph, 1968 Notes External links ;Poems *"The Copie of a Letter written upon Occasion to the Earle of Pembroke Lord Chamberlaine" *"Sero, sed serio: To Philip Earle of Pembrooke" *Philip Massinger at PoemHunter ("The Condition of Kings Human," "If E'er My Son") *Philip Massinger at Poetry Archive ("Death Invoked," "The Forest Queen") *Philip Massinger at Poetry Nook (11 poems) ;Plays * New Way to Pay Old Debts at Classic Authors. ;About *Philip Massinger in the Encyclopædia Britannica * Philip Massinger at TheatreHistory.com. *Philip Massinger (1583-1640) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 *Massinger, Philip in the Dictionary of National Biography * Philip Massinger (1583-1640) at Luminarium. * T.S. Eliot, "Philip Massinger," in The Sacred Wood. * Original article is at "Massinger, Philip" Category:1583 births Category:1640 deaths Category:Alumni of St Alban Hall, Oxford Category:English dramatists and playwrights Massinger Category:Burials at Southwark Cathedral